Comprehensive \Com`pre*hen"sive\, a. [Cf. F. compr['e]hensif.]

1. Including much; comprising many things; having a wide scope or a full view.

A very comprehensive definition. --Bentley.

Large and comprehensive idea. --Channing.

2. Having the power to comprehend or understand many things. ``His comprehensive head.'' --Pope.

3. (Zo["o]l.) Possessing peculiarities that are characteristic of several diverse groups.

Note: The term is applied chiefly to early fossil groups which have a combination of structures that appear in more fully developed or specialized forms in later groups. Synthetic, as used by Agassiz, is nearly synonymous.

Syn: Extensive; wide; large; full; compendious.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)